Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) Sets New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $46.14 and last traded at $45.6290, with a volume of 367975 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $45.19.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RPRX has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Leerink Partners set a $45.00 price target on Royalty Pharma in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Royalty Pharma in a report on Thursday. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Royalty Pharma from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Royalty Pharma from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royalty Pharma currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $48.67.

Royalty Pharma Trading Up 0.8%

The company has a quick ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $26.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.74 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.34.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $621.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $839.97 million. Royalty Pharma had a net margin of 32.38% and a return on equity of 28.21%. As a group, analysts expect that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 20th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Royalty Pharma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Royalty Pharma’s payout ratio is currently 65.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royalty Pharma

In other news, EVP George W. Lloyd sold 132,426 shares of Royalty Pharma stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.34, for a total value of $5,077,212.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 114,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.84, for a total transaction of $4,924,629.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 23,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,026,960.48. This trade represents a 82.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 1,170,028 shares of company stock valued at $46,545,276 in the last quarter. 18.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Royalty Pharma

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Watchtower Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Royalty Pharma during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,603,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Royalty Pharma by 18.3% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 775,999 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,137,000 after acquiring an additional 120,004 shares during the last quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. purchased a new stake in Royalty Pharma during the third quarter valued at about $933,000. World Investment Advisors bought a new stake in Royalty Pharma during the third quarter worth about $1,702,000. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR boosted its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 7,752.8% in the 3rd quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 34,081 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,202,000 after purchasing an additional 33,647 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.35% of the company’s stock.

Royalty Pharma Company Profile

Royalty Pharma plc is a specialty finance company that acquires biopharmaceutical royalty interests and provides non-dilutive financing to drug developers and rights holders. The firm purchases future royalty streams, milestone-contingent payments and other revenue rights linked to approved and late-stage pharmaceutical and biotechnology products. By paying upfront consideration for these rights, Royalty Pharma seeks to generate long-term cash flows tied to the commercial performance of a diversified portfolio of medicines.

The company’s transaction structures include outright royalty purchases, structured financings and milestone arrangements tailored to the needs of innovator companies, academic institutions and investors.